


We'll Be Ok, You and I

by midnightstarlightwrites



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Aged Up, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Art in Fic, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Getting Together, Hawk Moth is Gabriel Agreste, Healing, Hurt/Comfort, I draw now apparently!, Post Reveal, Romance, Slow Burn, Starts off more angsty and then gets more fluffy and comforty, emilie agreste isn't dead, post Final Battle
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-31
Updated: 2020-09-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:13:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25628026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/midnightstarlightwrites/pseuds/midnightstarlightwrites
Summary: For so long Chat had dreamed of revealing his identity to Ladybug. For so long he’d dreamed of dropping the invisible barrier between them, crossing that line. It was always romantic. Always a fantasy, always in the happiest of circumstances with the most blissful of resolutions. A coming together, not a tearing apart.Ladybug had seen him detransform. And she knew that Gabriel Agreste was Hawkmoth.It was all over now.~After the final battle, Adrien and Marinette heal together.How long does it take to be ok?
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Alya Césaire/Nino Lahiffe
Comments: 49
Kudos: 275





	1. The Immediate Aftermath

**Author's Note:**

> Oh hi!!! Welcome to my latest fic- 5 chapters following the fallout of the final battle with Hawkmoth! It's very hurt/comforty and I've even been inspired by my buddy Edendaphne to draw for the fic! My drawings are nowhere near as good as Eden's When Duty and Desire Meet pics, but I hope you enjoy them all them same! ^O^

** The Immediate Aftermath **

His breath came out in short rasps. His heartbeat thrummed in his ears.

Chat Noir landed heavy on the rooftop. The building was derelict, on the outskirts of the city and far away from everything he’d run from. Far away from the battle. Far away from the horrible, awful truth.

Far away from her.

_It’s ok, it’s ok, it’s ok._ The mantra played over and over in his mind, the only thing keeping him from falling to pieces. 

He felt sick. Could he be physically sick in his superhero state? And was it even possible to be physically ill from anguish? It was a question he’d never had to answer before. But, as his stomach rolled and he knelt to the ground, fists clenched on his thighs, he found himself barely holding it together. 

His stomach lurched and he swayed forwards, one hand slamming onto the rooftop as he gagged. Whichever one of his powers was causing this, super strength or super fortitude, he wasn’t sure. All he knew is that power was keeping him in limbo. His whole body shuddered but his super strength kept him just at the brink, not allowing him to succumb to the shock coursing through his system.

It was a long time before his breathing returned to normal. Every breath felt like gulping down water, and he was drowning; drowning in fear, in shame, in guilt.

He hadn’t meant her to see him. But she had. 

Ladybug had seen him detransform. 

It was all over now.

For so long Chat had dreamed of revealing his identity to Ladybug. For so long he’d dreamed of dropping the invisible barrier between them, crossing that line. It was always romantic. Always a fantasy, always in the happiest of circumstances with the most blissful of resolutions. A coming together, not a tearing apart.

But as always, reality never collided with fantasy in a harmonious manner. More like a cacophony of bad notes and nightmarish chords, grating nails on a chalkboard.

She couldn’t know him as Adrien Agreste, son of famous fashion designer Gabriel Agreste. She’d never know him in such an innocent manner. There wasn’t any innocence left. Not now.

Pain gripped his chest, twisted its knife and refused to let him bleed it out.

“Chat!”

His eyes widened. On instinct he rose, ready to flee. He knew he’d need to face her eventually. He knew that. But not now. _Please. Not now._

“Wait! Please!”

Ladybug’s yo-yo wrapped around his knees and he tumbled to the ground. As much as he wanted to struggle, to run and keep running, Chat was tired. The Final Fight had been long and hard, and the exhaustion, mingled with the echoes of adrenaline, wrought havoc on his weary mind.

She wouldn’t let him run from this. He should have known that from the start. And yet he had still tried.

“My Lady,” he hated the way his voice warbled. “I know that this looks bad. I promise I wasn’t complicit. I promise I never knew Hawkmoth was my father. You have to believe me.”

To even say the words out loud. Hawkmoth is his father. They discovered that he was Gabriel Agreste, and came to know his horrific intentions, why he did such awful things...

His mother hadn’t been missing. His mother had been right below him this whole time, trapped in a coma, unable to get treatment because his deranged father thought that the only cure was to use the Ladybug and Black Cat miraculous. No matter what the cost, no matter what he’d needed to sacrifice in exchange.

How many nights had Adrien spent wandering his bedroom, locked away, when meters below him his own mother had been trapped in her own prison- one so horrible it made Chat want to be sick all over again? How could he ever reconcile that in his mind? How could he live with the guilt? He couldn’t. It was unbearable.

Ladybug was by his side quicker than he would have liked. She retracted her yo-yo, but he stayed put. Eyes down. Even now, her presence was still a comfort to him. One he didn’t deserve.

“Of course I know that,” she said and the kindness in her voice made Chat flinch. He didn’t deserve it. Yelling at him, demanding his miraculous back, shaking her head in quiet disappointment? Those are the things he deserved. Not kindness. Not sympathy. “He hid it from everyone so well. Nobody ever suspected it.”

“Ok but so what if I didn’t know? Doesn’t that make it worse? I lived with him all this time! I lived with him and I didn’t know! Don’t you see Ladybug? I failed everyone. I failed _you_. If I’d been a bit more aware, if I’d found out sooner maybe I could have reasoned with him- maybe I could have stopped this, saved everyone from suffering so much. How can you ever look at me in the same light again?” he replied, and who was he trying to convince of that, really? He wondered if he ought to hand back his miraculous anyway, regardless of whether or not Ladybug demanded it. Glancing down at his miraculous, he began to reach for it subconsciously.

As if she read his mind, Ladybug rested her hand atop his, stopping him from doing something rash. Instead she pulled him to his feet.

The night was darker on the outskirts of the city, but the faint sounds of traffic, the glow of the streetlights, surrounded them still. Ladybug tilted his chin up so that Chat was looking at her for the first time.

He was shocked to see her in tears.

“It might be dark right now, but I still see you in the same light as I always have,” she said. “I can see the pain this caused you. I would never, in a million years, believe that you were a part of Gabriel’s schemes, and you aren’t to blame for not realising it sooner. None of this is your fault. I know that because I know _you_. Both Adrien, and Chat Noir.”

And then Ladybug was gone. A pink flash of light, a rush of air, and Marinette Dupain-Cheng stood in her place.

Chat couldn’t breathe.

“Hi Adrien,” she whispered, a shy grin on her tear-streaked face. “I can’t imagine what you’re going through right now, but I thought you could use a good friend.”

And that was all it took. The dam broke, along with his transformation, and Adrien collapsed into Marinette’s waiting arms.

“I’m sorry,” he sobbed into her shoulder. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I didn’t know! I didn’t know it was him. I don’t know what to do now. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

Marinette whispered soothing sounds of comfort, stood there for what seemed like an eternity, rubbing her hand against his back in little circles. And Adrien mourned, grieved in a way he could barely begin to understand, grieved for a family he knew he would never get back, for the family he’d spent years wishing and hoping would return. The dream was a joke now, a crumbled empire, a broken tapestry.

He spent his whole life trying to be an optimist but now he finally understood what it was like to stand in the ruins of one's life, having been helpless to stop the siege which brought it down. No. More than that. Being an accomplice to its destruction, for all the terrible, right reasons.

Adrien had fought for the peace of all Parisians, fought on the side of justice for the innocents, on the side of good and right. He was so grateful, so proud of Ladybug, so happy that they’d won.

But he couldn’t get rid of the absolute shame he felt, that in winning he had also lost everything. The shame of his selfish woe. Paris was safe, but there was no safety for him. Even on the barren rooftop, he felt walls creeping in, the vultures waiting to pick apart the remnants of his life. Stupid questions filled his mind. Where could he live now? What would happen to the staff at the manor? Would they all be out of jobs now that his father was behind bars, unable to pay them?

What happened when Nino, when Alya, when Kagami found out? And Chloe? Would they hate him? They’d all been his father’s victims.

“I don’t know what to do now,” he repeated once the worst of his tears had subsided. He opened his eyes, marvelling at how Marinette was still there, that she hadn’t abandoned him. And here again was a cruel fate. Not twelve hours ago, if he’d been told that Ladybug and Marinette were the same person, he would have been overwhelmed with joy.

Now all he wanted to do was hide, disappear, never show his face in Paris again.

“Adrien,” she said, and the pain, the confusion from her words almost made him fall apart again. “I don’t know. I’m so used to having a plan but… I really don’t know what happens next.”

“Neither of you need to have a plan,” Tikki, Marinette’s kwami, spoke up from the sidelines. “You made sure that Paris is safe, now it’s up to others to make sure justice is properly served.”

“Yeah guys, you worked your butts off! Time to take a break!” Plagg cheered from the sidelines, and Adrien’s heart felt a little less shrivelled by the encouragement. None of them were abandoning him.

As if reading his mind, Marinette stepped closer, pressing a hand to his cheek. “I don’t know what the future brings for us, but I do know that as long as we stick together, like we always do, we’ll be ok.”

Adrien closed his eyes, leaning into the touch. _It’s ok, it’s ok_ , repeating in his mind once more, but calmer this time. He leaned towards her, almost pressing his forehead to hers but not quite. Was it really ok? To get comfort from her like this? Did he really deserve it? He wanted it, craved it so badly, but it didn’t feel right. “I’m tired, My Lady, and I can’t go home to rest.”

“Me too, Kitty,” she gasped as he brought a hand up to cup her cheek. “So why don’t you come home with me tonight? I’m sure the news has picked up on Gabriel’s arrest by now. My parents will understand.”

“Are you sure they’ll let me in?” he questioned. “Even if it’s just for the night?”

“Of course they will,” Marinette replied, fingers brushing against his cheek in reassurance. Adrien almost whined at the touch. “So let's go ok? We’ll figure things out in the morning. Right now, Tikki and Plagg are right. We need to rest.”

A tiny smile graced his lips, sad and yet hopeful at the same time. How could she look at the son of her mortal enemy and offer him such grace? He wondered if he’d ever be able to pay her back for this kindness, for picking up the pieces of his shattered heart and holding them together when he didn’t have the strength to.

He’d spend forever finding a way to repay her if she’d let him.

“Ok,” he uttered. “Let’s rest.”


	2. The Day After

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for liking this story so far!

Marinette couldn’t sleep.

Her body felt heavy, aching with an exhaustion that her Miraculous Cure had been able to soothe but not get rid of entirely. She supposed it was a mark of how difficult the final showdown had been.

But, whilst her body was beaten and in desperate need of rest, her mind was the opposite. Every time she closed her eyes, flashes of the battle rattled her brain. Dark, twisted, shocking memories wove their way through her mind, wrapping their dark tendrils around her and squeezing tight. There was no respite.

Finding Hawkmoth’s lair at the Agreste manor.

Discovering Hawkmoth was Gabriel Agreste.

The reveal that Chat Noir was Adrien, and watching him fall to pieces when he discovered his mother’s comatose body.

A tiny, horrendous moment, where Ladybug was worried Gabriel had sunk his manipulative hooks into Chat Noir. A terrifying second where Ladybug feared she was all alone.

The memories haunted her and she suppressed a shudder. Defeating Hawkmoth didn’t feel like the triumph she assumed it would. Why did it feel like a loss instead? Why, in the midst of their triumph, did she feel like she’d lost something? And what even _was_ that something? Was it her childhood, her innocence? Her best friend, who was currently sleeping on her sofa, had she lost Chat Noir? He seemed so broken, and she was so out of her depth. There was no Miraculous Cure that could fix this.

Marinette sat up, careful not to disturb a slumbering Tikki, and brought a trembling hand to her mouth. Her parents always told her that bottling up her emotions wasn’t healthy, that she needed to let them out in order to move on. And usually she was good at that. But this? There’d been no preparing for the sheer weight of these emotions. It was like she was fighting with all her might not to be crushed by them. She had cried for Adrien, but she couldn’t cry for herself. If she cried, she was worried she’d never stop. If she let it out, she was terrified that there would be no turning back, no recovery. She’d scream and scream and that would be all that was left of her.

She inhaled sharply, pressing her lips together hard, as if that could stop the tears. 

“It’s ok,” she whispered, when the need to cry subsided a little. “It’s ok. It’s over. It’s ok.”

Why did that feel like a lie? Why couldn’t she stop shaking?

Eventually she calmed her shaking body but her mind was still relentless. There would be no sleep for her tonight. Caught between exhaustion, frustration and despair, she crawled out of bed and crept down stairs.

Everything was dark. It was a cloudy night. No moon to keep her company. The lights from the city pooled through the windows in the living area, where Adrien was curled up asleep on the sofa. Despite her eyes adjusting to it, the gloom was oppressive, like humid air before a summer storm.

She needed some water. That was all. A cool glass of water to hopefully soothe all ails. Maybe a bit of chocolate. Marinette knew that she shouldn’t be eating sweet treats so late at night but, hey, she’d just saved a city from certain doom. She deserved some god damn chocolate.

“You got any for me?” a voice from behind broke through the aggressive silence and Marinette yelped, accidentally throwing the chocolate in the air behind her.

“Woah!” Adrien dove forwards, reaching out and catching the bar between his palms. Even in the semi-dark, Marinette could tell he was sheepish. “Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you.”

His voice was rough and cracked. It sounded like Marinette’s heart. 

She shook her head. “It’s ok, and yeah you can have some if you want. Actually, since we’re both up I might make some hot chocolate if you’re interested?”

“That sounds amazing,” Adrien replied and the sincerity in his voice made Marinette want to cry all over again.

Neither of them asked the other why they were awake. They knew why. Nor did Marinette question Adrien as he padded to her, gently resting his chin on top of her head whilst she waited for the chocolate to melt. It was intimate, far more than they’d been in any iteration of their superhero or civilian selves, but it was real and honest and raw.

It was almost funny; once upon a time, Marinette would have combusted on the spot at the idea of Adrien touching her like this, treating her like this. Now though?

It wasn’t flushed skin, a wildly beating heart and untamed garbled words spewing from her mouth. Being tucked under his chin felt warm. It was soothing and calm. A safe place. A place only they knew.

She wanted him to wrap his arms around her, to pull her even closer, to block out the world entirely. But he kept his hands to himself and, deep down, she knew it was for the best.

When the hot chocolate was done, they moved to the table, and Marinette missed the warmth on her head. It was a weight she didn’t mind bearing.

They were silent for a long time, and Marinette wondered if he found her presence as comforting as she found his to be.

Then, finally, Adrien spoke.

“Do you think hot chocolate wants to be called beautiful chocolate instead? It’s kind of objectifying now that I think about it.”

Marinette blinked.

“Adrien... what?”

“I’m just saying!” he replied, scratching the back of his head. “Hot chocolate sounds like something a creepy guy would yell out of a car. Beautiful chocolate sounds like something a date would call you before proposing. Maybe the hot chocolate wants to feel special, I don’t know.”

Marinette stood up a little and leaned forwards across the table. She reached out, touching his head at various points. “Ok, did you get a concussion or something? You literally sound like you’ve lost your mind.”

“Yeah probably lost my mind without the concussion,” Adrien glanced up from between her arms. Their eyes met.

And suddenly they were laughing. Keenly aware of not waking Marinette’s parents, they continued to shush each other through their muffled giggles. This only spurred them on, until Adrien was clutching at his sides and tears were streaming down Marinette’s face. 

She sat back down leaning against her chair and glanced across the table with a fond smile at Adrien, her Kitty, her Chat Noir. He was looking at her too, his laughter subsided but something in his gaze made her feel so unbelievably warm again. How did he always make everything better, right when she thought it would fall apart?

Marinette’s fingers dug into her pyjama shorts and she stared into her empty mug. Letting out a deep exhale, she shook her head. “What are we going to _do_ , Adrien? What’s going to happen now? I usually have _some_ answers, but right now it all seems so foggy.”

The sound of shuffling against wood caught her attention. When she looked up, she noticed Adrien’s hand moving towards her. She reached out, and he caught it. Their hands entwined, joined across the tabletop.

Before she could admonish herself for asking him such loaded questions (he was the one with a villain father and a comatose mother after all), Adrien answered.

“I don’t know,” his voice trembled ever-so-slightly, but managed to hold firm. “But I do know as long as we have each other, we can deal with it, right? You and me?” he paused. “ _Mew_ and Me?”

Marinette laughed once, wiping at a wayward tear with her free hand. “You’re punning now? First your lame hot chocolate joke, now this?”

Dropping his gaze to their joined hands, Adrien ran his thumb against the back of her hand. The touch sent a jolt of electricity through her arm, straight to her heart. When he next spoke, it was in a voice so serious, so deep and quiet that Marinette had to strain her ears and listen.

“I wouldn’t be your Chat Noir if I didn’t make you laugh when you were down.”

Marinette squeezed his hand, unable to speak.

When she finally found her words she whispered, “You and me?”

He squeezed back. A confirmation. “You and me.”

* * *

If the night had been quiet and introspective, the morning was bright and loud. So loud.

Both Marinette and Adrien’s phones were vibrating so often that they turned them off, for fear they’d burn a hole through whatever surface they were resting on. They’d stayed up together all night, caught in a circle of talking through serious things and silly things, and neither of them had much energy to deal with their friends and the rumour mill at that current time. Marinette sent a quick message to the group chat on both of their behalfs, letting their friends know Adrien was safe, staying with her for the time being, and didn’t want to see anyone.

Plagg and Tikki were still exhausted, so Marinette left them to snuggle upstairs in her room.

After her father had woken up and given them a quick, tired greeting as he left for the bakery, her mother approached them. She’d said that Adrien could stay all day if he wanted to, but to make sure he told his guardians where they were. She’d spoken as delicately as possible, but nobody could ignore the hanging question in the air, swirling around like a darkening storm.

Who was Adrien’s guardian now? Who would look after him? He’d already told Nathalie and The Gorilla where he was going the night before, only to find out that Nathalie had been arrested as an accomplice to Gabriel. Marinette watched Adrien slump back onto the sofa, as soon as her mother and father left, and felt a pang of worry. Would he have to move away? Live with distant relatives? What would happen to the Agreste manor?

She decided she wouldn’t bring it up until he was ready. “Should we turn on the news?” she asked instead.

Adrien nodded. They could avoid their friends, but they couldn’t avoid the world forever. Both of them knew they’d have to make appearances as Ladybug and Chat Noir soon. The people needed more answers than the ones Ladybug had hastily given as reporters swarmed her and the police car Gabriel was hurled into.

Before she turned on the TV, Adrien reached out to her again. Unlike the previous night, where he’d been reaching to comfort her, now he was the one seeking comfort. She gave it fully, whole heartedly, squeezing his hand tight as she sat down on the sofa beside him. Their shoulders pressed together.

Marinette took a steadying breath and turned on the news.

Gabriel’s face was the first thing they saw. It took five seconds before Marinette wanted to hurl the remote at the screen. Pure hatred rushed through her veins, so powerful it scared her. She hated Gabriel Agreste. _Hated him_ ; for what he’d done to the city, how much he’d taken from them, how much he’d hurt his son and probably his wife too. And she mourned, mourned for someone she’d once considered an idol, a semi-godlike figure who’s status she once dreamed of reaching. How could he do this? _How could he?_

“You know, thank god we live in the fashion capital of the world, or I’d be really stuck finding a new idol,” she mumbled without thinking then paused when she realised how utterly tackless she was.

She turned to apologise to Adrien but he leaned back against the sofa with a snort. “My dads fashion sucks, and if the only way I get to stop modelling his dumb clothes is that my father goes to prison for being a supervillain, I guess I’ll take it.”

The blood drained from his face and he sat up straight, looking around as though he suspected someone might jump out to admonish him for going against his father. Marinette squeezed his hand again and he seemed to relax.

“Maybe when I’m a famous designer, I can design you clothes? No modelling needed, though you’re a great one.” It seemed as though, in the cold light of day, her word-vomit was back with a vengeance.

Adrien gave a very Chat-like smirk and for a brief second it gave her whiplash, before her brain caught up with her. “My lady did you just say I have model looks?”

“Don’t sass me or you won’t get any of the macarons I plan to steal from the bakery later,” Marinette sassed, booping him between his eyebrows. He chuckled, made a lip-zipping gesture, and they continued to watch the news in companionable silence.

Luckily there were no images of Emilie Agreste on TV, in fact the news didn’t mention her at all. The emergency services as well as higher branches of the police force, did an excellent, discreet job of taking her out of the chamber she’d been placed in, moving her to a private medical facility to run tests and hopefully save her. It was only a matter of time before journalists discovered the truth, but Adrien seemed relieved that that wasn’t something he needed to face just yet.

“I want to go see her,” Adrien whispered, furrowing his brow and closing his eyes. “I want to go see my mum. But I’m not even meant to know about it yet, so I can’t.”

“I’m sure you’ll be able to see her soon,” she replied encouragingly. “They’ll have to contact you eventually. You’re her son.”

They turned off the news after a while. Both of them were satisfied there’d been no major updates. Gabriel was in custody, the revelation that he was Hawkmoth had spread like wildfire, his company was having an emergency meeting to do damage control and there were rumours he’d be fired by shareholders. The images circulated of the Agreste manor, half in ruins and blocked off by police as they conducted their investigations. Journalists were hungry to get a glimpse of his secret lair. There had also been repeated loops of Ladybug’s harried statement and rumours that Chat Noir had been injured, as he hadn’t been there.

Little did they know it’s because he’d already run off by that point, determined to disappear.

“Thanks for bringing me back, my lady,” Adrien said, startling Marinette from her reverie. “I don’t know where I’d gone if you hadn’t.”

Marinette shrugged, trying to brush it off even as she blushed, as her traitorous stomach flipped. “It’s what any good friend would do, right? Besides, I’m not going to stand there and hog all the glory, Kitty. If you don’t have your turn in the hero spotlight, you’ll definitely combust.”

She walked over to the kitchen to grab a snack when Adrien followed her. Resting his elbows on the kitchen counter, he put his chin on his hands and looked at her with a goofy grin. “You really are Ladybug, aren’t you?”

Closing the fridge, apple in hand, Marinette offered him a raised eyebrow. “I thought that would’ve been obvious by now?”

He shook his head. “Sorry,” he replied. “Last night was… a lot. It still feels like a lot. I feel like so much hasn’t sunk in yet. But one thing is starting to. And that’s you. Marinette. _You’re Ladybug._ It makes so much sense!”

“Uh-huh,” she drawled, uncertain of where he was going with this. She tossed him the apple, which he caught deftly, and went to get one of her own. “And you’re Chat Noir. I think that makes _no_ sense. Mild mannered Adrien Agreste is my complete scoundrel of a partner.”

Adrien spluttered. “I’m trying to be nice here!”

“So am I,” Marinette teased, poking out her tongue. Adrien was right. It was a lot to take in. But his presence was calming because he was the only one who knew exactly what she’d gone through, what _they’d_ gone through together. What they were still going through together.

Marinette didn’t think their bond as partners could have gotten any stronger but it had. It was delicate right now, fragile and strange, as it had been so recently changed by their identity reveals. Taking a bite of her apple, Marinette thought that their relationship, as it currently stood, was a bit like a sweater she’d only just begun to sew. Sure it was new, and that panels weren’t all together yet, but the thread was made of the strongest stuff on the market and she had no doubt that soon she would have something comfortable, beautiful, and long lasting. 

She was relieved that something so good had come out of this whole rotten mess.

Just as Adrien was gearing up for a retort, the doorbell rang.

All teasing stopped. They shared a serious look. Neither of them needed to exchange a word.

Putting their apples to one side, both of them crept towards the door. Marinette wove a hand at Adrien, signalling that he hang back and let her answer it. If it was their classmates, she’d tell them off for ignoring Adrien’s wishes. If it was a journalist, Adrien had time to duck out of sight. 

If it was Gabriel, having somehow escaped and tracked them down, they could both call for their kwami and fight together.

Shoulders raised, she stood on her toes and peered through the peephole. 

“Um, Adrien,” she said, opening the door. “I think you want to see who it is.”

Her suspicions had been utterly wrong. It wasn’t Gabriel, it wasn’t any journalist. It wasn’t even their friends.

As Marinette opened the front door, glancing between a stoic face and a shocked one, she wondered what on earth Adrien’s bodyguard was doing here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just love them so much, ok?


	3. The Week After

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoy the softness! I promise it's super cute at the end! Just hang in there!

The hospital was cold.

Adrien sat by his mother’s hospital bed, listening to the steady beep of the heart monitors. The chair he sat in was itchy, although it was a private hospital with the best furniture money could buy. So perhaps he was the one feeling itchy?

He hoped her bed was comfier.

Looking at his mother, lying in bed this way, felt like he was looking at someone else entirely, like he’d entered a strange alternate reality. Her skin was pale and waxy, though he refused to think ‘deathlike.’ She wasn’t dead, she was here and alive. The doctors would find a way for her to wake up... right?

Words couldn’t describe how much he wanted that to be true, for her to wake up and embrace him as she once had. He wanted her to say it had all been a terrible dream. He wanted to reach out, to hold her hand.

He chickened out at the last minute, tugging his mother’s bed sheet up instead, telling himself that it was because he didn’t want her to be cold.

Now that he was here, finally able to see her, Adrien didn’t know what to think. What to feel. There was a comfort in knowing everything, even as that understanding had left devastation in its wake. In her years of absence, there had been a hole in Adrien’s heart desperate to be filled with knowledge. Where had she gone? Who had taken her? Was she ok? 

Would she ever come back?

And now he knew the answers, the hole in his heart had closed considerably. But there was a new pain now. He’d gained one parent and lost another.

He had the urge to ask her if they’d ever be a whole family again, but he knew that wasn’t possible. The happier days of his young childhood were gone. They weren’t coming back, and Adrien couldn’t help but grieve for them. A shudder ran through him and he tore his gaze away from his mother. It was all too much.

But then there was the guilt. He should be happy, right? His mother was here! There was hope still. And he had Marinette, all his friends too. What was family, anyway? He didn’t need to be a family with a villain! Gabriel could stay in his prison cell forever for all he cared.

His hands clenched into fists.

“I can hear your angst from here.”

“Plagg!” Adrien gasped, trying to swipe the kwami back into his pocket. 

Plagg batted his hand away with softer scowl than usual. “It’s alright to be confused, you know. So your dad ended up being a jerk. Lots of people have horrible parents. They turn out ok in the end. So why don’t you tell your mum about all the good stuff instead? It’s less boring than hearing about the Hawkmoth trial for the millionth time.”

It was a while before Adrien could muster up the courage to speak. Plagg landed on his shoulder, able to duck out of sight if someone came in through the door opposite them. It was a comforting weight.

“You know I’m getting kinda freaked out at how nice you’re being,” Adrien replied eventually, scratching his kwami under his chin.

“I’m always nice, whatcha talking about?” Plagg huffed, leaning into Adrien’s touch. “And I don’t believe in kicking a cat when they’re down.”

Adrien’s tiny smile faltered. He glanced back towards his mother.

Sucking in a breath, he sat up taller and leaned towards her.

“It’s ok, Adrien,” Plagg whispered and, for some strange reason, hearing Plagg call him by his actual name made him want to cry.

Instead, he swallowed the lump in his throat and took his mother’s hand. It was warm. A tidal wave of relief washed over him and he was unable to stop the tears, even as he smiled around them. He’d never known before, how tears could be such a strange mix of emotions. Happiness, betrayal, grief, comfort, love.

“Hey mum,” he whispered, running his thumb over the back of her hand. “It’s me. Adrien.”

It had been hard, so hard, to say something to her. Adrien admitted he’d been putting it off from the moment he’d stepped into his mother’s hospital room. Almost as if, the second he spoke, he was making this all real. But the more he spoke, the easier it became, the more the hospital faded away and it was just him and his mother. Nothing else. He could pretend it was all a bedtime story.

So he told her everything, in hushed tones so nobody would accidentally overhear. He started from the very beginning; the day he got his miraculous and became Chat Noir, when he met Ladybug and watched her become the superhero the city needed before his very eyes. He even told her about Plagg (with a little intervention from the kwami himself). Adrien spoke for what seemed like hours, talking about his friends, his school and teachers, talking about the times he’d laughed and the times he didn’t. And all the while it became a little bit easier to deal with.

However, he wasn’t quite ready to tell her about the final battle. That would come in time, he supposed, maybe when he next visited her.

So, instead of talking about the final batter, he spoke of his favourite thing instead.

“I really want you to meet her,” Adrien sighed, unable to help the goofy smile on his face. “Marinette… I think you’d really like her. She’s Ladybug, the best partner a superhero could ask for. She’s amazing, sweet and so incredibly smart! And she’s been more of a friend to me recently than anyone. I really don’t deserve it,”

“Yes you do! I told you, enough with the angst,” Plagg chided, even though he was half asleep on the armrest at that point.

Adrien chucked, giving Plagg a few gentle scratches.

Folding his hands, he placed them on his lap and stared at them.

“I love her, mum,” he whispered. “I  _ love  _ her. I love her so much, I don’t know what to do with myself. When we first met I fell hard, and it only grew over the years. She didn’t return my feelings so I held back out of respect for her. But recently? Sometimes she looks at me, sometimes there’s this,I don’t know, this silence between us. And in that silence, it’s like this connection? An understanding? A comfort? I don’t know, I don’t understand it. I’ve never felt anything like it before. But I’m starting to think she might have feelings for me back. There’s so much going on right now, it’s like I’m in the middle of the darkest, stormiest sea. And through it all, it feels like my love for her is a lighthouse. It’s something constant and steady, something I can come back to as all these waves threaten to drag me under. And sometimes I look at her and I get the impression she feels the same.”

He slumped backwards in his chair, exhaling long and slow. A weight lifted off his shoulders, one he hadn’t known he was carrying until that very moment. “But maybe I’m just a hopeful fool.”

One day, eventually, he knew he had to tell Marinette. It was the only secret left between them, that even now he was still hopelessly in love with her.

Everything was so fresh, though. The wounds from the final battle were so raw, and Marinette was hurting from it too but for reasons she was keeping to herself. He’d tried to get her to open up and talk to him about it, but she’d brushed him off saying it was just post-battle anxiety. 

Adrien ran a hand through his hair, sighing to himself. He worried about her. More importantly, he worried she was holding things back because she feared burdening him after he’d suffered such a massive loss. He’d lost his father in the worst possible way, he’d only sort-of got his mother back. Nobody in his extended family could take him. His bodyguard, of all people, had taken him in.

Despite all that, he wanted to be there for her. No matter what was going on in his life, she was  _ his lady _ .

A knock on the jolted him out of his thoughts and he scooped Plagg up into his pocket. 

He glanced up just in time to see his new guardian, Gorilla, enter the room.

Except Adrien couldn’t exactly call his former bodyguard that anymore. When he’d been a toddler, and Gorilla had first come to work for his family, he’d had difficulty pronouncing his last name. He’d called him  _ Gorilla  _ and everyone found it adorable, so it stuck. Adrien had asked him about calling him by his actual name as he got older and realised it was rather rude of him to stick to the nickname. But he’d said nothing, only shrugged. 

So Gorilla he’d remained.

Now hpwever, he owed this man so much. He’d offered Adrien a roof over his head, and the ability to keep going to the same school and keep as much normality as possible, given the circumstances. Adrien had his own room, he had a safe place. Probably the safest place, considering he was living with a trained bodyguard. It was only right that he called him by his proper name.

“Traffic’s bad,” the Gorilla, Remial Grillon, said. “We need to leave now, if you want to meet your friend on time.” 

Adrien still wasn’t used to him speaking so much. He’d spoken more words to Adrien over the past week than he’d done in all the years Adrien had known him. But Monsieur Grillon had explained it was part of the job. Contractually, he wasn’t supposed to talk to Adrien except for in emergencies.

“Oh! Right,” Adrien stammed, shooting right up out of the chair. “Can I… say goodbye first?”

Monsieur Grillon nodded, exiting the room, and Adrien let out another nervous exhale. It was strange, having a guardian say yes. After being denied most things he asked for for so long, it was strangely disconcerting. He almost didn’t want to ask him too much, in case Monsieur Grillon’s charity ran out.

Casting those nasty anxieties to the side, he turned back to his mother, giving her hand a little squeeze. 

“I love you mum,” he said. “I’ve got to meet Marinette and Master Fu now but I’ll be back soon. I promise.”

Then he turned around and left before it became too hard not to.

* * *

Marinette stretched out on the tatami mat, clutching a cushion to her stomach and staring at the ceiling.

She didn’t look up at the sound of a door clicking open, nor at the shuffling of Master Fu as he carried a tray of tea over to the small table beside her.

Fu didn’t say anything either. He just sat on the opposite side of the table, pouring tea into the fancy little cups. Three little cups. They were expecting Adrien soon

“She’s been this way since the final battle,” Tikki talked to Fu in hush, concerned tones and Marinette wanted to argue, but here she was content to just allow herself to stew in her feelings. “Whenever she doesn’t have a focus.”

Fu stroked his beard.

“What troubles are you keeping locked away, Marinette?” he asked.

Marinette winced, continued lying down on the tatami mat, and didn’t do anything else beyond that. It felt like all her collective worries were trying to barge their way from her brain to her mouth, all fighting to be spoken about first. None of them were winning. They were stuck in an eternal fight, and so Marinette remained speechless. 

“You’re not the only Ladybug who’s felt like this you know,” Tikki stated, landing on the cushion and peering down at Marinette. “Lot’s of Ladybug’s feel lost after they prevail against their villain.”

“I’m not lost!” Marinette sat up, apologising as Tikki flew off the cushion. Her legs sprawled out under her and she cuddled the cushion in further. “I’m not.”

“So what would you say you’re feeling?” Fu replied, as calmly as ever. “Tea?”

Marinette placed the cushion to one side with a sigh. She really was going to have to talk about her feelings wasn’t she? Picking up the tea cup, and sitting properly with her legs folded under her, she stared at her wobbly reflection. “I’m conflicted, I guess.”

Tikki sipped her thimble of tea and Fu continued to nod encouragingly. Marinette drank her tea, the bitterness was welcoming and its warmth filled her insides, flooding her with a sense of clarity. 

Marinette set down her cup and glanced out the window. It was a grey, miserable day outside. The kind where mist and cloud swirled together as rain made a water painting out of her city. But it was her city and, no matter how gloomy it was, at least it was safe now.

“Ok, so, like, Hawkmoth right?” Oof. Already off to a wonky start. “Hawkmoth. We did it. We beat him. And I’m so happy about that, that we saved the day. And at the same time, I’m devastated for Adrien. I look at how heartbroken and betrayed he is and I sometimes wish Gabriel Agreste never became Hawkmoth. But then I would have never become Ladybug and I feel so much joy from being Ladybug, and from Adrien being Chat Noir. Then I feel guilty for being so selfish. So, on top of all of that, I’m wondering... what’s next? I’ve been Ladybug for two years now. Do I have to give up being Ladybug?”

Ok. Maybe she’d lied. Maybe she  _ was  _ feeling lost. Maybe, in reality, she was actually terrified.

Tikki cuddled up into her side. “You’ve got a lot on your plate, feelings wise, and I’m really glad you shared it. I was worried about you keeping all of these things bottled up,” she said. “It might not seem like it now, but you are allowed to celebrate your victory. Give yourself time to look after yourself first though. Final battles are a lot to take, and you and Chat Noir worked so hard!”

Fu took a sip of his tea, then gave Marinette a perplexingly neutral stare. “Nobody is meant to have a miraculous forever, Marinette. There is a time when all superheroes must return the miraculous to the guardian.”

He must’ve seen the blood draining out of Marinette’s face, for he soon added, “But that doesn’t have to be as soon as the battle is over. The world is still full of criminals after all, superpowered ones who might not use miraculous powers, but are more powerful than the police can handle regardless. Especially after the defeat of a major villain, copy cats and new villains take the opportunity to try and fill the gap the old villains have left. So you can give it back in your own time. When you’re ready.”

Marinette let that sink in and, for a little while, they sat in silence whilst sipping their tea. She hoped that what she was about to say didn’t sound as pathetic out loud as it did in her head.

“But...I don’t think I’m ever going to be ready to give it back. Not because- not because I want to keep my powers forever or anything!” she cried, stammered and laughed sheepishly to cover her fears. “I’m not like Hawkmoth. I promise I don’t just want the power forever. And it’s not about glory or anything either.”

“Then what is Marinette? You know we’re all here from you. You can tell us. And we know you’re not like Hawkmoth! You’re the total opposite!” Tikki encouraged.

Marinette gave her a weak smile. She stared down at her teacup and took one final sip of courage. “I guess it’s because I’ve been Ladybug for so long now, that I don’t really know how to be anything else. Don’t get me wrong it’s not that I feel terrible when I’m my civilian self. I feel really lucky. But- how can I ever give up half of who I am? How do I go on being just Marinette without being Ladybug too? I’d feel the same if I had to give up being Marinette and live life only as Ladybug. If I give up being Ladybug, I’m only half of a whole person...right?”

Fu set his tea down. “Marinette, being Ladybug is not the suit. It’s not the powers. It’s not being there to save thousands of people in a single night. You will  _ always  _ be Ladybug, whether you have powers or not. Think of the ones who came before you. You are part of that history now. Nothing can take that away.”

“Fu’s right!”

Marinette’s stomach leapt up to her throat. In horror she turned to see Adrien at the door.

Plagg popped over his shoulder and flew over to Tikki, who offered him some tea quietly. Plagg denied it with a shake of his head and immediately dove into the plate of cheeses Fu had left out on the table.

Neither Adrien or Marinette noticed this. Their eyes were fixed entirely on each other; Marinette, the deer in headlights and Adrien, the (emotionally) wounded soldier.

Adrien rushed forwards, kneeling on the mat before her. His movements turned gentle as he took her teacup, resting it on the table before grasping her hands in his own. Marinette’s skin tingled at the touch and, even though her heart was in turmoil, it still flipped at him being so close.

“Marinette don’t you remember when I called you our Everyday Ladybug?” he said gently, “I meant it! You’re not half of a person if you don’t have powers. You’re always going to be our Ladybug.” He paused, eyes glancing down as if he was mustering courage to speak his next words. When his eyes met hers again, Marinette noticed the faint blush dotting his cheeks. “You’ll always be  _ my _ Ladybug.”

Marinette ripped her hands out of his, ignoring the hurt look crossing his face, because she  _ couldn’t _ . She couldn’t do this. Not now.

Adrien was suffering so badly. If she bothered him with her feelings, which paled in comparison, she’d be the worst superhero partner ever! She could talk about it when he was feeling better, but right now? No. No way. “H- how’s your mother?” she replied, changing the subject.

“Marinette,” Tikki chided and Marinette stubbornly refused to wince this time. She knew what she was doing was right. She couldn’t burden her kitty like this.

Fu said nothing of the interaction. Instead, he sat up as straight as his old bones would allow and gave Adrien and Marinette a very guardian-like stare.

Adrien took one last look at Marinette before settling into a kneeling position beside her. Marinette couldn’t return the look, could hardly stand to bear it. 

“I brought you here to discuss whether or not you wanted to return your miraculous to me soon, or even perhaps now,” Fu explained. “As I mentioned to Marinette, there will always be crime, always be supervillains. The decision is yours and yours alone. You will need to give them back eventually, but you must decide when that is together, as a partnership.”

Marinette did wince at that, noting his particular emphasis on words like together and partnership, almost as an admonishment.

“What happens if we decide to keep them for now?” Marinette asked, trying to focus on the more practical side of things.

Fu stroked his beard. “The Ladybug and Black Cat miraculous are designed to be used together, in times of true turmoil. That is why it is rare for a guardian to choose them. There has to be a significant imbalance in the world. As the Guardian, I was compelled to release them at the time. Though a major imbalance has now been set right, as I mentioned to Marinette, there may very well be some new villains who rise up to try and fill the gap Hawkmoth has left. It is not unusual for a Ladybug and Chat Noir to remain superheroes until they decide to retire.”

Even though she was grateful that Fu had called him Hawkmoth instead of Gabriel Agreste, or worse ‘Adrien’s father,’ she still reached out and took Adrien’s hand in comfort. He squeezed it back. When she noticed a little tension melt off of his shoulders, Marinette couldn’t help but feel guilty for letting go in the first place. Still, she’d done it for the right reasons. But now she realised, she would have to talk about those reasons, in order to prevent a misunderstanding.

“Why would a Ladybug and Chat Noir decide to retire?” Adrien wondered aloud and maybe it was Marinette’s imagination, but to her it seemed like he asked in a way that suggested he couldn’t understand why they would. Could it be that he wasn’t ready to give up his miraculous either?

Fu’s lip twitched slightly, as if he was trying to fight a smile or a grimace. Marinette wasn’t sure which.

“Sometimes it is simply old age,” he said, offering Adrien a cup of tea and pouring it slowly when Adrien nodded. “Sometimes it is that the world feels in balance again, and there is a long period of peace so they feel it natural to leave all regular crime to the authorities.”

“Oh, right,” Adrien replied, taking a sip of his tea. “That makes sense.”

“Of course,” Fu continued. “Some also decide to retire once they marry and have children.”

Adrien choked. Coughing up a storm, he set down his cup and covered his mouth with his free hand. “Ch-children?” he spluttered.

Marinette didn’t speak. Her brain resembled a computer in blue-screen-of-death mode. Simultaneously, they both turned to stare at their joined hands, then turned away again. 

“Smooth, kid,” Plagg laughed through a mouthful of cheese. “Super smooth.”

“In any case, the decision is the both of yours alone,” Fu replied standing up. Adrien and Marinette stood up too. “So I will leave you both to make your decision. I want you to both think long and hard about it. I trust you will not make the decision lightly.”

Marinette shook her head. “Of course we won’t.”

“Then please let me know your decision within the next few weeks,” Fu replied with a bow, symbolising the end of their meeting.

* * *

The rain came down in sheets and, although Adrien’s shoes filled with water, he was grateful for it. The park was filled with people hastily exiting it and visibility was poor. Monsieur Grillon told him he should be safe from anyone spotting and harassing him. So far that hadn’t been a problem. The media had depicted him as a tragic victim and barely mentioned him beyond that. But it was still a good idea to be watchful, just in case anyone decided to take their ire towards Gabriel out on Adrien.

Monsieur Grillon had left him alone to walk with Marinette, with explicit instructions to call him if he did get into any trouble.

But he knew he’d be fine. He had Plagg. And Marinette.

“I can’t believe you kept this all this time,” Adrien replied, trying to keep the mood light as they huddled under the umbrella he’d once given her. He tried to keep from bumping into her, from pressing against her side like he wanted. Memories flashed of her ripping her hands out of his grip.

“Of course I kept it,” she replied warmly. “A friend gave it to me.”

They continued walking along the puddle-strewn pathway in silence, listening to the hard patter of the rain against the umbrella. So many things were left unsaid and Adrien didn’t like it. He didn’t know where to start, how to approach the things he’d overheard.

Still, he had to try.

“You aren’t selfish, you know.”

Marinette stopped dead in her tracks. In the heartbeat it took Adrien to notice, he stepped out from underneath the umbrella, right into the downpour.

He turned around to face her, making no effort to move back under the umbrella. Her eyes, wide and bright even through the misty rain, were fixed on him. Her mouth opened in a surprised ‘o’ and Adrien fell in love with her for the millionth time.

“Adrien,” she said. Her fingers clutched the handle tightly and the umbrella came down to obscure some of her face. There was a sadness about her, a regret which Adrien wanted to fix immediately. But he stayed silent, wanting to hear her out first. “About what happened back there. I’m sorry. I’m sorry for not telling you how I was feeling earlier. But you’re going through so much. How could I possibly burden you with more problems?”

“Burden me?” Adrien shook his head. Rain trickled from his flattened hair, down his face like a teardrop. “We’re a team, Marinette. Your problems are mine as much as mine are yours. Even if I’m going through a lot, even if I can’t help as much as I’d like to, I still want you to talk to me. The idea of you suffering in silence? It hurts. And for what it’s worth, I’m still happy I became Chat Noir. Even if it led to all of this, even though it was Gabriel who was our enemy, I still wouldn’t change a thing. Because I met you.”

He blushed, wondering if he’d said too much, revealed too much too soon. But damn it all he loved this girl and he wanted to protect and cherish her as much as she did him. She’d done so much, and he wished to give her the world in return.

“So you would want to stay as Chat Noir, at least for a while?” she asked.

“Only if you’ll stay Ladybug,” he replied instantly. “I want to, but it’s not worth it without you. It’s no fun.”  _ Stay with me,  _ he thought,  _ stay with me forever. _

“Of course I will! I… I don’t… I’m not ready to give up being Ladybug yet. It makes me happy, being with- I mean- fighting crime with you,” she stammered, lifting her head up to the sky. A few raindrops hit the lower half of her face. Her eyes caught the cloudy sky, so blue that Adrien almost swayed on the spot, straight towards her, enchanted. “Besides, can’t you feel it Adrien? The world is still unbalanced. The world still needs us. I don’t know if that’s wishful thinking on my part, if it’s because I want to stay as Ladybug that I feel that way. But there’s something in the air, something unfinished. _ A lot  _ of things are unfinished. Don’t you feel it too?”

He looked up at the sky, allowed himself a moment of stillness, of quiet. It was always there, a little flame in his chest, his connection to his miraculous. The connection hadn’t severed since Hawkmoth’s defeat but it had...changed somehow. It didn’t flicker constantly anymore, as if standing next to an open window, a constant reminder of the threat they needed to get rid of. No. Now it was calm, gentle, but still flickering from time to time, still reminding him there was work to be done.

“Yeah,” he replied. “I feel it. We’re still needed.”

He hadn’t realised he’d closed his eyes until he felt the rain stop, until he felt Marinette’s presence right in front of him as she covered them both with the umbrella. He opened his eyes again.

“You’re going to catch your death if you’re not careful,” Marinette whispered. Or at least it seemed like a whisper to him, as Adrien’s heart was thrumming in his ears, blocking out most other sounds. They were so close, almost chest-to-chest. He could count the freckles on her nose, freckles that half of her mask used to cover.

“Eh, I’ll be fine,” he shrugged, his nonchalance coming off as rather strangled instead. “You’ll cure me.”

Marinette’s cheeks turned a delightful shade of sunburnt tomato and she thrust the umbrella into Adrien’s hands. “Really, Kitty. Must you?!”

Adrien grinned. “Must I what, My Lady?”

She buried her face in her hand. “I- you know what! With your alley-cat flirting! It’s still weird to see you do it as Adrien and not Chat!”

“Well it’s a good thing we’ve got that interview with Nadja soon,” he teased. “I can transform right now and continue my alley-cat flirting all night.”

With a swift flick at his nose, Marinette grabbed the umbrella back and sauntered away, leaving him exposed to the elements once more. “Professionalism, Kitty,” she turned back to him with a wink. “ _ Professionalism _ .”

Adrien couldn’t help the heart eyes if he tried. He chuckled. “Alright, alright,” he held up his hands in mock surrender. “ _ Pro-furr-sional.  _ As you wish, My Lady.”

“Hey.” Marinette’s tone change caught his attention and he dropped his hands, giving her his utmost attention. “Are you sure you’ll be ok to do this? The interview I mean. You’ve just come back from seeing your mother and I don’t want you to feel like you have to. If at any point you need to tap out, just give me our usual signal, ok?”

He wanted to tell her he loved her right then. He wanted to sweep her up into his arms and kiss her, never let her go. Adrien wanted to tell her how much she meant to him so badly that his chest felt like it might collapse from the weight of it, that his tongue might permanently stick to the roof of his mouth from the effort it took not to speak his truth.

But it wasn’t the time. The dust hadn’t settled. The rain was still falling. There were still so many raw and open wounds. That didn’t matter as much to him. If he had his way, he’d be professing his love to her right then and there. And once upon a time, he might have just done so. Consequences be damned.

But he was older now, and had had one too many lessons learned due to his inability to hold back. Besides, he knew Marinette. She was much more pragmatic than he ever was. He knew she’d want to wait, out of respect for him. She felt like she was taking advantage of him just by talking about her worries, let alone starting a relationship during such a delicate time.

He could wait. She was worth it.

“Ok,” he whispered. “But only if you promise you’ll share your worries with me in return. I want to hear them, I want to be there for you, right?”

Marinette was quiet for a moment and Adrien respected that she was genuinely taking the time to consider his feelings. “Right,” she inhaled sharply. “I promise I’ll try. Problems shared are problems halved after all.”

“Exactly!” he beamed. “That’s what I was thinking!”

Suddenly his hand was warm. She’d reached out to grab it. With a cheeky grin, Marinette pulled him to a hiding spot behind a nearby tree. “You ready to transform together for the first time?”

If he thought he was beaming before, he was wrong. Suddenly, it felt like his whole soul was smiling.

She let go of his hand, and Adrien missed the weight of it as she fumbled to get the umbrella closed. Memories crossed his mind of the time he gave it to her, how it had closed on her head. It was the first time he could remember laughing, really laughing, in the longest time. There, in the rain with her, he’d felt alive.

It was the same feeling all over again, as she flashed him her Ladybug smile, as a wave of pink light washed over her and she bowed at him, gesturing for him to follow suit. He was all too happy to.

Green light engulfed him and Chat Noir grinned at his Ladybug. “Hey.”

“Hi,” she replied breathlessly, full of joy, and suddenly Chat felt like everything would be ok.

They couldn’t stop giggling the whole way to the interview.

**Author's Note:**

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